Between 1903 and 1909, Douglas and Geraldine Moodie extensively photographed the inhabitants and surroundings of Fullerton Harbour, Churchill, Manitoba and other areas in the North. In 2015, Glenbow received an extraordinary donation from the descendants of the Moodies in the form of almost 500 vintage negatives (including glass plates, nitrate and lantern slides), as well as the photographers’ diaries, reports, and photo registers.
Through these records, we learned about the Moodie’s experiences and their impressions of the Inuit people they photographed. Thanks to the photographers’ journals, we have the names of many of their photographic subjects – but what is missing are the perspectives of the people themselves. The goal of this project was to collect stories and remembrances about the people in the photographs from relatives and descendants in the communities where they were from. These stories and perspectives have been added to Glenbow Museum’s archives and included with the database of the photographs.
In September and October of 2018, Glenbow’s Indigenous Studies Curator Joanne Schmidt visited five communities in Nunavut, as well as Churchill, Manitoba. She travelled with albums of digital prints, photo books and digital images from the Moodie archive. Communities were invited to share any stories, perspectives, impressions or oral histories related to these images.
Community members were invited to view hundreds of digital photos at public slideshow presentations and photo books and albums of digital prints were left in each community for continued use by community members. An album of digital prints was also delivered to Chesterfield Inlet, the smallest community (just around 437 people) and the one most connected to the images.
Itinerary
September 25 – 27, 2018 – Unikkaarvik Visitor Centre, Iqaluit
September 29, 2018 – Angmarlik Visitor Centre, Pangniqtuuq
October 3 – 5, 2018 – Kivalliq Regional Visitor Centre, Rankin Inlet
October 6 – 8, 2018 – Jessie Oonark Centre, Baker Lake
October 11 – 12, 2018 – Chesterfield Inlet Hamlet Office, Chesterfield Inlet
October 15, 2018 – Parks Canada Visitor Centre, Churchill
Supported by
